


The Prince of Diamonds

by Luneth



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Eridan with Alpha Humans, Fluff, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Polyamory, They're all pale and happy and live together, let me live
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-09-15 22:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9261641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luneth/pseuds/Luneth
Summary: Home for you is a large structure about a mile from the nearest town.But less important is the house than the four people you share it with.Eridan's life with his four diamonds.





	1. Bed

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to set some time aside to do this little side-project. I know EriRox is my usual pale ship, but I like to think about how Eridan would interact uniquely with all of them. It might get more chapters, I have some planned, but it might not. Anyways, extremely fluffy Eridan with his little family of humans.
> 
> They're all kind of together in the same relationship, but I didn't tag EVERY combination because that would have cluttered it and it's from Eridan's POV.
> 
> The story's in present second-person, which is very different from my usual past third-person so I'm sorry if I messed up feel free to point out any mistakes in spelling or whatever. ;-;

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where you sleep is an important thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bed snuggles. Yep.

One day finds you returning home after a particularly active mission. You’re exhausted and sore from the large number of enemies you found yourself fighting. The backlash of overextending your Hope abilities layers on top of the physical fatigue. Jake smacks you on the shoulder for congrats on a job well done and you nearly fall over. You stumble inside and make a beeline for the beds. They’re a set of compartments cut into the wall and stacked on top of each other, the higher ones accessible by a ladder to the side.

It’s technically Jane’s bed, the one on the bottom. She had not fancied traveling up the ladder every time to go to sleep. Once again you are stuck by her incredible wisdom as you tip over right into the neatly made covers. Hardly a few second later you’re out cold.

You wake up several hours later to find your body tucked in snug under the blankets, a plate of your missed dinner on the cubby above the bed, and a warm body pressed against your back. You turn over to look at Jane, curled up and fast asleep. She often gets hot sleeping in the summer, and must have shifted over to you for your lower body heat. You can’t resist a smile as you press a cool hand to her forehead. She sighs and relaxes into the touch.

Of course, Jane would think to set aside a plate for you. She knows all your favorites too, but of course there are more vegetables on there than you might have chosen yourself. She even left you a cookie, along with a note in her trademark cyan ink.

 

_Weren’t you exhausted! Clean your plate, now!_

_Hoo hoo hoo! :B_

 

Your smile widens. It was just so incredibly sweet, knowing someone cared so much for your health, so much they actually considered your vegetable intake in their thoughts. You brush the hair out of her face, then grab the plate and shuffle out as gentle as you can manage.

 

000

 

Today is not a good day.

You hate these days, where you couldn’t even put your finger on the problem. Sometimes it’s because you lashed out to someone unfairly. Sometimes it’s because someone made an offhand comment that stuck into you like a barb. Sometimes there’s no reason. You just hate yourself and hate every single thing you’ve done and can’t think of a single reason anyone would ever bother to deal with you. You haven’t changed at all and you never would. It was those days you slink up the ladder for the second-lowest bed.

It’s technically Roxy’s bed. She had loved the little area and hung a curtain up that she could hide behind. Right now, you slip in and yank it closed, shutting yourself in the dark. You shove yourself under the blankets and curl up tight, but it doesn’t shield you from the endless list of failings bouncing around in your head.

You hear the curtain move, then move back, and a weight joins you on the bed. Gentle hands poke at your body under the blanket, then you feel someone lay down beside you and wrap an arm over your shoulders.

“You ok?” Roxy whispers. You make a weak noise in response. She squeezes you tighter. “What’s up? You make some piss-poor attempt at a garbled response that ends with a dragged-out whine. She shushes you and runs her hand down your back.

“It’s ok,” She murmurs, “it’s ok, take your time.”

You do. She waits patiently for you. And when you do speak, the words spill out in an incoherent emotional mess. She hums and tugs at the blanket until she finds your head, then begins to scratch gently below your horns.

She is so, so patient with you. She coaxes you out with soft assurances and jokes that you can’t resist snorting to even in your state. She draws you out, little by little, until you’re hugging her tight with your chin on her shoulder. You sob just a little, in relief, in gratitude, happiness, in the knowledge that whenever, however you screw up, Roxy and the others will be there. They’ll pick you up and if you need it they’ll set you straight, but they won’t leave you.

Roxy wraps you up in the blanket again, only this time she’s snuggled up with you. She pulls her laptop out and sets it up to stream one of your favorite wizard-themed movies. You wrap an arm around her waist, then tilt your head and flick your fins so one smacks her in the jaw. She laughs and hugs you back, then offers you a chocolate bar for a snack as the opening scene starts.

 

000

 

You come back from the mission shaking from adrenaline and fear. Your nerves haven’t settled on the trip home. You all made it back, but too many close calls, too many almosts.

Jane suggests you have a cup of hot tea but you shake your head and head for the beds. You climb all the way to the top one.

It’s technically Dirk’s bed, he likes to keep an eye on things. You crawl in and lie down with the back against your wall. The covers are balled up by your feet, and you kick at them restlessly.

The creaking of the ladder makes you tense, then Dirk’s voice calls up over the edge.

“Eridan, I’m coming up, is that ok?”

You grunt in affirmation. Of course he can come up, it's his bed. Dirk’s head pops into view. He climbs onto the mattress and scooches over to you.

“Hey,” His hand settles on your arm, “You ok?” You nod, but keep your eyes glued to the edge of the bed. Dirk’s hand begins to riffle through your hair. “I’m right here, alright? I’ll stay here.”

You can’t resist reaching up to grip his wrist tight and shuffling over so your nose is against his knee. He pulls your head full into his lap, carefully, on account of your horns.

“Hell of a fight,” He comments as he continues to play with your hair. “Roxy’s arm should heal up fine, and Jake looks like he’s fine after that blow to his head. How’re your ribs?” He lightly pats your chest, only a little sore after Jane’s healing.

“Fine,” You mutter and in return lay one hand on his shin. “No stitches needed here?”

“Nah, Jane’s a miracle-worker,” Dirk lets his fingers drift over your fin, “Glad you were there. Your hand-combat has improved a ton, more power behind the blows.”

You’re starting to relax. Reviewing the fight is calming you down, reminding you it’s over. Dirk’s right beside you, touching your fins and hair gently. His voice is calm and you can feel his solid presence beside you. You feel safe.

When you wake up, he’s still there, leaning against the wall and flipping through his phone. His other hand is still resting on your head.

“Hey,” He says without looking up, “Jane says dinner will be ready in half an hour or so. How do you feel?”

“Better,” You mutter, “Thanks.”

You lay there awhile longer until Jane calls you down. As you sit up Dirk claps you on the shoulder and squeezes lightly. You give him a grateful smile and return the gesture before heading for the ladder.

 

000

 

It’s technically Jake’s bed, the second-highest. He loves being so high up, and there’s a window with a view of the field and the forest beyond. Right now, you’re lying on your side, head propped up on one elbow as you stare out the window, as you like to do when you’re thinking about a certain topic.

Jake joins you soon enough. You left room for where he always likes to lie down, and the two of you watch the view for a few minutes.

Usually Jake starts. If the silence stretches on for awhile, then you do. Either way, you two always wound up talking. Talking about what’s too clingy, what’s too distant, what upsets people and what good things you can say to carry a conversation. Maybe you both share some silly hope that if you talked enough, you could balance each other out. Most of the time you two just floundered, but at least you were floundering together. You didn’t have to be afraid of offending each other because you both knew you were trying your best.

It’s a comfortable feeling, every once in awhile.

Jake points excitedly at a single-passenger plane passing overhead. He starts talking about the life of the pilot. You just think the pilot is an asshole, flying so close to your house, or maybe a spy. But that just highlighted your differences. Jake is cheerful, you're a grump. Jake doesn’t like to dwell on things, you overanalyze to death. Jake likes to explore and discover, you destroy. Jake likes to be alone, you're terrified of it.

You would be hard-pressed to find someone less like you, but sometimes there’s a fine line between clashing and complementing. Occasionally it leads to disagreements, and sometimes he frustrates you, but at the same time you feel a sense of weird completion around him, like you covered up each other’s flaws somewhat. Keep him grounded, keep you out of the muck.

And you have to admit, you’ve come to admire his disposition, the way he lit everything up like the sun and how he’s always taken your less sanguine attitude in stride. You like it, in small non-irritating doses, and you’d personally fight anyone who aimed to snuff it.

You look out the window again. The two of you have fallen silent, and it was comfortable for both of you. Jake lies on his side and pillows his head on one arm. You slowly reach out, then begin to comb through his hair. He hums in contentment, so you keep going. His hair is nice and soft, everything about him is nice and soft, but burns like the sun. He once told you something similar, that you were like a shard of ice sometimes, with fire blazing underneath. You like the sound of it, so you repeat it to yourself sometimes when you feel down.

Eventually you lay down for a nap. Jake has already fallen asleep. You take your glasses off, then his, and stow them both on the windowsill. The light from the window falls across his face, and you can’t help but find that a fitting look for him as you doze off.

 

000

 

Your bed is the one in the middle, above Roxy’s and below Jake’s. You’ve gotten used to sleeping in it instead of a recuperacoon, though you occasionally find yourself tangled in the blankets.

Your cubby-shelf is cluttered with various things: wizard statues, history books and fantasy novels you brought up to read in bed, jewelry, framed photos of you with the others, hair products, and a whole bunch of other junk that more of less defines “you”.

One evening you crawl up the ladder, cracking a yawn as you crawl onto the mattress. It’s late, you have a mission tomorrow.

You hear someone climb up to your level, then feel the bed shift. You can tell by the weight who it is and open your arm out. Roxy snuggles up next to you, the hollow of her neck fitting with your arm. She never spends the night before a mission alone.

Jane comes up a few minutes later, mumbling something about being cold on her own before curling up on Roxy’s other side. You shift the blanket around so she gets a good share of it.

Jake’s head pops down into view. He grins, and you roll your eyes at him, then jerk your head. He forgoes the ladder to swing from his bed into yours, crashing into the three of you and causing several loud complaints. He chuckles as Roxy shoves a pillow against his face. You grab him and drag him over to your other side because you aren’t in the mood for a full-blown pillow fight.

Dirk is always the last to go to bed. Sometimes he makes excuses: robotics, or long showering. Between the two of you, you know it’s because he likes to check on everyone as he heads up the ladder. He must have been watching the scene from below because he hops right in without a word, smoothly maneuvering over Roxy, Jane and you. Some adjustment is needed. Jake moves over to the edge for a little more spread-out room and Dirk squeezes himself in between you two and shamelessly hugs and snuggles you like his creepy puppet doll. You grin and shuffle around a bit to get comfortable. Building the beds this large had been wonderful hindsight, though you’re sure no Seer could have predicted this outcome for you. You let your head rest up against Roxy’s hair and close your eyes.

It’s technically your bed, but not really.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eridan: This is my blue moirail she's soft and makes sure I eat food.  
> Eridan: This is my pink moirail she's awesome and talks to me when I'm sad.  
> Eridan: This is my orange moirail he's strong and cuddles and protects me.  
> Eridan: This is my green moirail he's the fuckin sun and I will murder you if you touch him.
> 
> Dirk canonly cuddled with lil cal so I'm headcanoning him as very cuddly.


	2. Bees?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eridan gets a brilliant idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to warn you, this story is going to update on a strict schedule of "whenever the Hell I feel like it" and it's mostly indulgence fic of "how pale and happy can Eridan be before the universe implodes?" Also I feel bad that Jane and Jake sometimes get left out when I write Eridan hanging with the Alpha kids so expect to see a lot of them, especially Jane.

Every time you go out, you try to bring something special back for the others.

You’ve never gotten over your need to provide. Maybe it’s your past of hunting lusii or finding dead trolls for your previous quadrants. Maybe it’s just that you don’t know how to express your affection in many ways besides straightforward gifts. Either way, you’re proud of how well you know the tastes of the others. For Roxy, shining jewels from the ocean floor, pink ones are the best. Her eyes light up brighter than the gems themselves as she examines them. For Jake, old artifacts found in ruins. The best was a dusty pistol you had unearthed from some ancient bedroom. He had polished it clean while talking excitedly about where it could be from. For Dirk, interesting feathers, especially ones in good condition or brightly colored. He examines them carefully and tries to guess where they came from (and sometimes, you have the whole bird to prove him right or wrong.)

Jane’s is the most natural for you, though. Food. Fish you catch in streams or the ocean. Birds or other game you can haul home. She’s always overjoyed by the freshness and cooks whatever you bring. It hasn’t tasted bad once.

You’ve worked to expand beyond hunting game. One can’t very well get sugar or flour in the wild, but you’ve learned to recognize tasty mushrooms, wild vegetables, or herbs that could be used for spices.

Exploring the forest, you’ve already bagged a couple of rabbits, when a soft buzzing makes you look up. You see a swarm of yellow and black insects, crawling in and out of a structure they’ve built on a tree branch. Your chest flutters with excitement when you recognize them. Honey’s expensive in this area. Jane will be ecstatic, and so will everyone else with whatever she makes.

You suck your cheeks in, thinking. How best to do this?

 

000

 

That had been a terrible idea.

Jane’s expression is stuck between horrified and amused as she patches up your stings. Dirk, standing beside you with his arms crossed, is definitely amused, though he’s trying to hide it. Futile, you can recognize the strained upward tilt of his mouth and the way his eyebrows are crinkling just a little. Jake has banished himself from the vicinity, unable to stop giggling.

“Hey!” Roxy sweeps into the house, takes one look at you, and blanches. You’re sure you make quite a sight, covered in strings and sopping wet. “Whoa, what happened to Eri?”

Your face hurts to move, so Dirk answers. His tone is completely professional, save for the smallest tremor.

“Eridan shot down a wasp nest. He’s wet because he used the river to escape.”

“I thought they were bees!” You blurt out when Roxy gives you a baffled look, “I didn’t know there was more than one fucking little yellow murder insect hellspawn. I wanted-” You groan, and your shoulders slump, “I wanted to bring back some honey, ‘cause Jane woulda liked it.”

Roxy covers her mouth with her hands and her eyes go wide. She tries, she **tries** , but a small laugh escapes her anyways.

“That’s actually really cute,” She recovers quickly. Jane smiles weakly and nods.

“Eridan, we can afford the honey. Don’t go shooting down any more insect nests, please.” Your fins curve down and you droop. Dirk rests a hand on your shoulder.

“M’sorry,” You mumble, “I thought I could handle it without gettin hurt.”

“It was a wonderful thought.” Jane boops you on the nose, healing the stings there. “But you know I’d rather you be safe than getting hurt for my sake!” You smile at that, despite the pain.

“Yeah,” You croak, “Yeah, I know.”

“How ‘bout some tea?” Roxy heads for the kitchen and calls over her shoulder with a wink. “With some honey?” You snort at her.

“Just sugar, thanks.”

“We could build an apiary,” Dirk says suddenly, and everyone looks at him with a blank expression. “For bees. Beekeeping.” He explains, “It’s not so hard.”

“Oh no.” Jane shakes her head and presses one hand to her forehead. “That’s too much work. I don’t use honey that much.”

“We could sell the rest.” Dirk argues back. You can tell he’s sensing a new project. “Honey **is** kind of hard to get around here. Might be a good investment. It would help the flowers and vegetables in the garden too.”

Jane purses her lips. “I don’t know…I’d hate for any of us to end up like poor Eridan here.”

“It’ll be fine as long as no one shoots it.”

“Dirk,” Jane sighs.

“Eridan, don’t you know a guy who works with bees?”

“Dirk no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then Dirk built an apiary.
> 
> Eridan just wants to bring his moirails gifts of affection like the cat that he is.


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Home for you, and how it came to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This had to go somewhere. It's a little cheesy but mostly just giving backstory information and a layout of the house.

Home for you is a large structure about a mile from the nearest town. It was the ruins of a fort, renewed and rebuilt for modern living. The interior is a single giant room, the sections divided off without walls, except for the bathrooms. There’s a partial balcony for a second floor that can be seen from the first and accessed via ladder. On the first floor, there’s a kitchen area tucked off to one side, a living room with some sofas and armchairs and a TV, and a spacious training area.

But less important is the house than the four people you share it with. Four humans, not exactly expected company for a Seadweller. But it’s them who make it home for you. It’s Jane, who bustles around the kitchen and fills the place with delicious smells. It’s Roxy, who crowds the TV with her video game rigs and who punctuates the air with her cheerful voice and laughter. It’s Dirk, who spends hours in the training area beating the life out of dummies, the rhythmic sound of his blows echoing through the house, and it’s his robotic projects that cropped up here and there all over. It’s Jake’s posters and movie collection and his buzzing energy as he zips around the house. It’s the detective stories, the coding manuals, and the philosophy essays that crowd the bookshelves on the second floor along with the wizard novels and history textbooks. It’s the katanas and pistols hanging on the walls with the rifles. It’s the warm voices and the shuffle of moving bodies and mixing of scents that remind you that you’re not alone.

 

000

 

When you first joined them, first started working together on missions, you felt like an outsider. They moved so well with each other, and you hovered around like a misplaced orbit. More time passed and you got a feel for their skills, weaknesses, styles, personalities, likes, dislikes, quirks. The more time you spent with them, the harder the pang in your chest was when each ended mission led to coming home to an empty house. It was Roxy who suggested you move in, after clearing it with the rest of the group. You accepted immediately, desperate to leave the loneliness of your hive that was becoming unbearable.

Staying with them only strengthened your bonds as you saw them not just working but living. You got to know all the little ways they existed, how Jake shifted sitting positions depending on the mood of the movie he watched, the tunes Jane hummed when she cooked, Dirk’s astoundingly long showers, and Roxy dancing to old pop songs in her pajamas in the morning.

Your feelings must have developed early on, but they grew so much stronger after moving in. You didn’t know how to deal with them, much less bring them up to any of the others. Humans had only a basic grasp of the concept of “pale,” and you yourself were floundering over just who to try and focus these feelings on. It seemed unthinkable to choose any one person and leave the others, but you had always been told **not** choosing was the true act of unfairness and selfishness.

In the end, it was Roxy you ended up telling. You ran the words through your head until you were thoroughly tortured by them, only for it to come out as a complete jumble when you finally said it. You should have written it down.

But in the end, she understood, as she always has, and she laughed and took you around to talk with the others. There was some confusion, and explaining, but in the end, you all agreed whatever the five of you had surpassed friendship, and you were all willing to roll with it since that’s basically what you were doing already.

Your troll friends think it’s a little weird. A particular sweaty blueblood declared it “depraved but not within his stature to question the romantic choices of a Seadweller.” Vriska had some snide comments about it. Karkat was a solid “whatever.” Aradia and Feferi both thought it sounded “fun.” Nepeta apparently had to move you to a separate wall on her shipping diagram.

The humans just call it family, and well, that was good enough for you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not only is Eridan happily living with the Alpha kids but he even has a decent relationship with the other trolls. Amazing.
> 
> Karkat, being the romantic he is, cares deeply about this business, but he can't just SAY that.


	4. Home is not a place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Eridan misses his moirails.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't dead it's just my casual project that I work on instead of working on not-casual projects.

“Groceries are all put away!” Jane calls out as she shoulders her bag. “And remember to water the plants, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, got it.” Roxy hugs her tight. “You have a safe trip, Janey! Call us when you get there, ok?”

“It's a promise, buster!” Jane shoots you all a smile and waves. You wave back. It's just a small job. Hospital in the next town over got a sudden influx and called for some Life Aspects to hire on temporarily to help. No reason for all of you to go. She'll be back in a week, but you can't help but feel a little anxious. You always do when one of you goes off for a while.

She drives off, and the rest of you go back to your own things. It's different though. You can't help but feel the absence of her voice, miss catching sight of her around the house.

The four of you take care of her chores, and Jake cooks the first night (It's not like you make the poor girl cook everyday anyways). Still, things just seem dull. The food doesn't taste as good, and not just because it's missing her touch. As the days go by, the air seems to get heavier. You feel tired.

Jane calls in every evening to check in. It seems the hospital work is going well. She's glad to be helping, but can't wait to head back home again. The job sounds like a Hell of a lot of drudge-work to you. You're tempted to try and convince her to come home early, but you know it'd just make her feel bad. So instead you assure her that you're eating enough and, at Roxy's suggestion, flap your fins at Jane over the video chat to make her giggle.

She comes back in a week, as promised. You all swarm her into a hug and she laughs and returns it with her usual crushing strength. You settle you chin on her shoulder and purr, wiggling your fins. She pats you on the cheek and asks you if you've all been eating. You nod obediently and the rest repeat the gesture.

“Well!” She pulls her coat off and tosses it on the hook. “Now that that's taken care of, time to check on the state of the kitchen!”

 

000

 

Jake has a sparkle in his eyes as he shoulders his bag. The mission is perfect for him, scouting through the wilderness, moving quickly. He'll cover ground faster without the rest of you. Jane reminds him to call, and to take a first aid kit with him. He salutes her and accepts the box. Dirk leans against the wall, arms crossed and silent. Finally, as Jake gives his final goodbyes, Roxy jabs Dirk in the side. Dirk's face tenses for a moment, then he clears his throat.

“Remember to call,” He tells Jake, then rubs the back of his head. “Just, once in a while, when you can or want to.” Jake gives him a warm smile and nods.

“It's a promise, chum.”

You clap him on the back as he passes you and order him not to die. He laughs and returns the gesture, then vanishes out the door.

Once he's gone, things settle down into a bit of a lazy Tuesday. You take a nap with Jane. Roxy and Dirk play some video games. The days pass.

Jake does call. He's gotten better at doing that. But there's several days where he's far away from any kind of cell reception. It's quiet.

Dirk stops working on his projects and instead passes the day watching TV or listening to music. The two of your spar often as well.

Jane doesn't hum or skip around the kitchen so much, but moves around in businesslike and efficient steps. Roxy's more subdued, less theatrical. She doesn't scream outrage at her video games or hop around on the sofa.

Jake's always added a shot of fantasy to his life. Roxy once said he treated things like it was all a movie, and simply by doing that, he made things less mundane. Maybe it's rubbed off a bit on the rest of you, but with his absence you feel silly keeping it up.

It makes you feel a little useless. You're Hope-aligned too. You feel like you should be able to fix things, to inspire, like he does. All the great leaders in history were inspirational. Thinking about it too long makes you mope, so you try not to.

He returns like the sun after a storm, flying in through the door and shouting his presence so you drop your book where you are on the second floor. You slide down the ladder to meet him. He's hugging Jane when you get there, but gets you next. You're mouth twitches up and you ruffle his hair.

“Still all in one piece?” You ask.

“Right as rain! And look what I found!” He digs into his bag and pulls out some animal skull that's in remarkable condition. “What do you reckon it is?”

“Felidae family,” You guess, “Probably a bobcat.”

“Then I'll put it by the wildcat!” He declares and hoists it over his head.

“You do that,” Roxy smacks him on the back, “And while you're at it take a shower, God-DAMN.”

She has a point, and though Jake tries to argue that a little dirt and sweat never hurt anyone, the four of you gang up against him until he surrenders off to the bathroom. You take over the duty of transporting the bobcat skull, and carefully place it beside the wildcat skull, completing the line on the shelf in a nice manner.

 

000

 

Dirk always tries to play off like him going away isn't much of a big deal. He runs through when he'll get there and when he'll be back in a very sterile tone for the last time as he shoulders his bag. It's all broken when Jane catches him in a hug and ruffles his hair. She reminds him to eat well as he desperately attempts to restyle himself. He sighs and promises her. She smiles and boops his nose.

He attempts to leave with some shred of dignity, but Roxy yells after him that he forgot his teddy bear and hurls lil cal out at him. You can see his shoulders slump as the gangly puppet smacks against him. So much for that.

He drives off. You try not to worry. It's a weapons demonstration. There's no real danger, probably.

The days go by, a little quieter without the rap music and fewer training sounds. You don't have to wait an hour for the shower.

Dirk calls every day at exactly 12:35pm and 7:45pm, and you exchange status reports, assuring each other that things are going fine. He reminds you that if anything seems off at all he can be back in an hour. First Roxy assures him that everything is fine here, and then you vouch for her because he trusts you not to sugarcoat things.

You find yourself just going through the motions of your typical routine. You're not unhappy, everything just seems kind of dull.

You have some trouble sleeping. It's not any more dangerous here, but you just feel uneasy. At around 1am you peek through the beds to check on everyone, then climb up to the top. You lie down with a view of the door, and almost wish Dirk had left behind his creepy puppet. Maybe not, though, you hate that thing's eyes on you.

Over the next few days, Jake challenges you and Roxy to a shooting contest. You oblige a few times, but you can barely get into it.

When Dirk returns, he does it by somehow threading the needle between completely casual and over-the-top dramatic, slamming the door open and dropping his bag on the ground with a heavy thud.

“Hey.” He nods to all of you. “You guys get by without me?”

Roxy tackles him in a hug, which he returns, even letting his mouth twitch upwards a bit. You whine and bump your head against his shoulder until he frees an arm to wrap it around you.

“Looks like nothing's on fire,” Dirk makes a show out of pointing to all of you as he counts, “One, two, three-” His finger settles on the crown of your head, “-four. Guess we're good.”

“Aw hush, Dirk.” Roxy swats him on the arm. “Come on, let's eat some snacks and you can fill us in on what kinda shit went down.”

“Well for starters,” Dirk takes the bait and immediately launches into whatever interesting thing happened at the event, because somehow things are always interesting when he's around. “There was this dick with a naginata, hardly knew one point from the other-” The five of you make your way to the table as he talks. “-Nearly took my head off, and I don't think he even noticed...” Roxy laughs while Jane gets this wrinkled-nose look that says she's forcing herself to assume he's exaggerating. Jake presses for details while you roll your eyes or scoff at this or that. Dirk ruffles your hair and steals a cookie off your plate, despite plenty being left on the communal plate. You make a faux-enraged hiss and he snorts and pats your cheek, then offers you one of his brownies as a peace offering.

 

000

 

Roxy hugs you tight and you squeeze back, trying to soak up as much of her as you can for the time she'll be gone. She bounces back on her heels and spins around to get a look at everyone.

“You guys take care, ok?” You nod. Someone had requested a speedy and quiet delivery of some rare goods to a town a few territories away. Stealth missions were Roxy's thing. She would work best alone and, if the client was to be trusted, it wasn't dangerous. Still, you wish you could come, if only to provide backup.

She pats your cheek and boops Jane on the nose before leaving. The door shuts and heralds a heavy silence. The rest of you split off quickly to go about your own business.

Without Roxy everything seems to rub together. You would think with one less person there would be more room, but it's like you just don't have as much patience for each other. You love them, you still love all of them, but the little things are just a little harder to stand. And you hate it, you're scared of it. You know they feel the same rise in tension and you can't stand the thought of being annoying to any of them. You spend a lot of time out of the house when Roxy's gone.

She comes back like a hurricane. You hear the car screech to a stop outside but none of you even make it to the door before she bursts in. She's wearing a pair of ridiculous pink sunglasses and has a shopping bag looped on one elbow. She hugs the closest person to the door, Jane, and kisses her on the cheek. She then tackles her next victim, Dirk. When she gets to you she musses your hair up so bad you make a little yelp of protest. She laughs and tries to placate you by showing you the contents of her bag. She'd picked up gifts for all of you in the cities. You get a soft scarf in your favorite color. Jane gets a very sophisticated looking hat that would belong in a detective movie. Jake gets a jacket that looks nice as well as serviceable for the outdoors. Dirk gets a t-shirt with some Japanese written on it. You assume it says something cool, but wouldn't put it past Roxy to have it say something like “dumbass.”

The gifts are nice, but you know they aren't the cause for the suddenly cordial atmosphere. Everything feels more relaxed all of a sudden, everything settles back into a comfortable position.

Roxy declares that it's time for a video game showdown. Dirk calls the orange controller. Jake races forward for a good spot on the couch. You follow Roxy as she goes to join him, and she ends up curled up between your legs as the game loads up. You don't bother trying to play like that, so instead you cheer her on and give her pointers. You feel her laughter drum against your chest and smile, resting your chin on her head.

 

000

 

“You don't have to take the job,” Dirk tells you as he hands you the folder, “I told the client it was up in the air.” You grimace as you flip through the information. You're always happy when something of your exact expertise comes up, but at the same time, you weren't born a Seadweller to examine underwater pipelines.

But the pay is good, you've had worse jobs, and you've always had an ear to lend to environmental concerns, so you decide to take it. It's not dangerous, to you anyways. It just involves a lot of swimming deep down and checking to make sure everything was still working properly and such. There wasn't even anything flammable in the pipes. The pay is so good because it would still be cheaper than hiring someone to dive down with equipment.

Jane packs you some things in a special waterproof bag. The client is providing most of the supplies at the sites, but she hates the idea of going into anything unprepared. You see her sneak some snacks in and smile faintly.

Roxy wishes you luck and warns you to be careful with yourself. You snort and roll you eyes, pretending you aren't probably the most reckless little asshole around. At the very least, you can't be as bad as Jake.

Jake tells you to take pictures to document your “adventure.” You answer that it's probably going to be incredibly dull but he remains undeterred. Dirk tells you to bring a weapon, just in case. You protest that your Hope is all you need but he pushes a small diving knife on you, if only for his peace of mind.

Lastly, the five of you plan out the times you'll be calling. You'll be swimming for a good portion of the time, and sleeping on the islands. You aren't sure how long it will take to cover the distance, but Dirk assures you that if you happen to come up at like 3am, at the very least he or Roxy will be awake. You give a shaky smile at that. Jane doesn't even protest the sleeping schedules.

Jake drives you out to the first site. It's a bit off the road so his jeep is good for that. You meet the client and nod your way through the review briefing. You already have the map and the route you'll be taking. Jake smacks you on the back and wishes you luck. You nod and punch his shoulder in farewell, then take a running leap and dive into the water.

The saltwater floods into your gills. It tingles a little, like the first bite of food in a meal. You're used to swimming in the freshwater lake near the house these days, but it only takes you a few seconds to get adjusted. You swim straight downwards, heading for the bottom.

You dive down so deep that even a Seadweller like you can't see through the darkness, so you direct a ball of hope to light the way ahead of you. The piping comes into view. It looks pretty good. You take a few pictures, then follow it along the line. The route will take you to several islands that relied on these pipes. You're sure to take another picture every twenty feet or so; no need to give them reason to complain.

It's dark, and silent down here. Aside from the occasional fish that flees quickly from the light cast around you, you're alone. It's peaceful. You kind of wish you could listen to music, but your special underwater headphones broke a while ago. So you just swim on at a steady pace, clicking pictures here and there.

Some seaweed has grown up around a spot. You cut it free to make sure it's not hiding anything. A little bit further on, you find a dent that looks like it could be trouble, so you snap some pictures and record the location using the GPS.

You're a bit worn out by the time you get to the first island.  You take some final pictures where the pipe meets the land, then swim up, up, up until the surface comes into view.

You're careful peeking your head up; no reason to terrify some kids playing on the shore. There's no one around, so you swim in until your feet hit the sand and soon you’re trudging up onto the beach. You thump down, check the sky, and guess it's a little after dinner time. Might as well call them while you're waiting to dry.

Roxy picks up and nearly blasts your ear out with a shouted greeting. You give her a quick status report. She tells you it's been quiet back at the house, then announces the others have gathered and turns on speakerphone. Jake immediately asks if you saw any sharks. You probably did, but didn't bother to take note of it. You promise him you'll take a picture if you see any more. Jane asks if it's cold in the water or on the surface drying. It's a little chilly being wet on the surface, but you're drying quickly.

You stay on the phone as you follow the path to the camp, but bid goodbye and hang up when you get there. There's stuff you need to do, and there's only so much to discuss from a single uneventful day. You start a fire and unlock the supplies box left for you, digging out a few cans for dinner. While the food cooks over the fire, you shower off in the stall, then scope out the rest of the camp. It's not too bad for a night in the woods: a cot set up in a tent, an outhouse, the shower. You've had worse.

You scarf down the food. Bland as it is, swimming for half a day works up an appetite. Makes you tired too, so right after dinner you put the fire out and head to bed.

You wake up just as the sky is beginning to lighten. With a yawn, you shuffle out and root around for some breakfast.

You sit by the remains of the fire and munch on some cereal. You wonder what the others will be having for breakfast. They probably aren't up yet. You know they said you could call anytime, but you have the decency to not take them up on the offer of “asscrack of dawn.” Dirk may have finally gotten to sleep, for all you know.

After eating, you lock up the place and set out for the next site. You would kind of like to let the water warm up a little first, but the sooner you can get this over with, the better. It's not like the water temperature ever changes a hundred feet down anyways.

You dive down, find the marked spot, and repeat the process. This time the place where the pipe meets the land is cracked. You snap some more pictures and continue on. As promised, you keep an eye out for sharks or any other interesting fish. You also comb through the sand a bit for anything interesting. You hit something of a jackpot there. A small chip, you recognize it as for one of Roxy's video games. You pocket it and continue on. Maybe she'll be able to make it play again.

Thinking about Roxy, cozied up on the couch with her video games, makes your blood pusher squeeze a little. You try to shake off the feeling and keep going.

The pipeline stretches on, as does the silence, and gradually, it weighs on you. The heavy pit in your stomach refuses to leave.

You wonder if the others are up yet. What time is it? Still morning? Surely it must have been an hour or so at least. They might be eating breakfast, Roxy reaching under Dirk's arm for the jam, Jane splitting the last pancake with Jake.

The misery opens up inside of you like a yawning cavern. You're glad you're underwater, because crying on land is so much more obvious. You swallow and push yourself onward. The sooner you reach the next island, the sooner you can call.

After what feels like an eternity you heave yourself up onto the shore. It looks like it's around noon. You swallow and fumble your phone out.

Dirk picks up. “Hey,” He starts, “The others are out but-”

“I miss you,” You blurt out before you can stop yourself. “I, everyone...I miss them.”

Dirk pauses for only a second, “Come back,” He says. You swallow and steel yourself, because the offer is tempting.

“I can't,” You croak out, “I, I gotta finish. I ain't done yet.”

“You can come back later. We'll tell them there was a delay.”

You can't leave. The people who hired you would be pissed if they heard you went back just because you were lonely.

“This isn't really a time-sensitive job,” Dirk argues, “…We miss you, too.”

You can't tell if that makes you feel better or worse. “It's only a few more islands.” You answer, and look back at the hazy dots over the ocean. “T…Tell the others hi. I'll be back soon,” You promise both him and yourself before hanging up. You then stumble to your feet and head to the next spot for diving. Your muscles are a little shaky, but the next island doesn't look too far. You can probably make it.

You plunge back into the water and let yourself sink to the bottom. The pipeline comes into view. You snap some pictures and kick off to swim down the length.

You can't tell if you're swimming slower than usual, or it's just your imagination. Either way, you grit your teeth and force your legs to go a little faster, willing the next island to come into view sooner.

This trip didn't look any longer than the other ones, but it feels like it. You can't stop Dirk's words from bouncing around in your head, the tone of voice he so rarely used when he was trying to get genuine vulnerability across.

You shouldn't have blown him off like that, even if he had been doing it just for your own peace of mind.

You heave yourself up onto the shore, exhausted and shaking. It's dark. You force your legs onward into the forest. Once you're a little drier, you'll call. You shove yourself through some vegetation to get to where you think the camp is.

“You're late.” Roxy informs you. You drop your bag. She's sitting by a hearty fire. Jane is sitting across from her, preparing some camp-style dinner. Jake grins at you. He's brought the guitar Jade gave him for his birthday.

A dry towel flops down over your head and shoulders. You hear Dirk's voice as he musses your hair dry.

“You look dead on your feet. You didn't have to do two islands in one day, you know.” You spin around and throw your arms around him, squeezing tight as a low whine escapes you. You're pathetic, and you hate it, but you hate being alone more. You’ve spent so much time alone you can't stand it. Maybe one day, you'll be able to, but it wasn't today, and the others knew it.

Dirk doesn't bother trying to break the hug. He just scoops you up and carries you over to the warmth of the fire. Roxy leans over and pokes you on the fin and you flutter them in return.

Jane can barely get you to eat anything before you start to doze off. Dirk blows a raspberry into your neck, making you yelp. He then tugs you off to bed. 

The tent barely fits all of you, but you curl up tight together in a mess of blankets and limbs. The unfamiliar sounds of frogs and bugs surround you, it's a little drafty, and the ground is hard, but tonight, it's home.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eridan can usually last like, two days on his own without feeling horribly lonely, but I guess this was a bad day, but they know. They understand.


End file.
